Motor vehicles are currently required to be equipped with seat belt assemblies for the protection of vehicle occupants in the event of sudden stops or impact of the vehicle with another vehicle or other object. Conventional vehicle seat belts are normally provided with one seat belt length attached at one end to a retracting device positioned on the body of the vehicle at the side of the seat. The opposite end of the belt is attached to a side of the vehicle at or above shoulder level. In another arrangement, for example, in a vehicle rear seat, the retracting device is positioned at or above shoulder level and the opposite end of the belt is attached to the vehicle body at the side of the seat. The seat belt has a latch plate slidably positioned along the belt.
To use the seat belt, an individual pulls the latch plate and fastens the latch plate to a buckle secured to the vehicle body at the side of or through the seat, thus providing a conventional three-point seat belt attachment. Such a three-point seat belt attachment arrangement is commonly known as a Type II auto restraint system. When pulled, the latch plate  divides the length of seat belt into two belt portions, a lap belt portion and a shoulder belt portion. The lap belt portion lies across the lap, or waist, of the vehicle occupant. The shoulder belt portion routes across the chest and shoulder portion of the vehicle occupant when the belt is properly fastened. The shoulder belt crosses the vehicle seat, and hence the body of the occupant seated thereon, at a location which is fixed in relation to the seat, rather than the occupant.
Conventional vehicle seat belts are well-adapted for use with adults of average height. However, these conventional seat belts are not well suited for individuals who are very short, including, for example, children who have out-grown conventional child restraining devices. When a conventional seat belt is fastened in place about a child or a short adult, the shoulder belt will typically extend across the person's neck, face, or both because his or her upper body is not as tall as that of an average size adult.
A shoulder belt which normally routes across a child's neck or face is very annoying, uncomfortable, and dangerous. Because the shoulder belt is annoying and uncomfortable, it discourages use of the seat belt. To avoid the undesirably routed shoulder belt, a child may wear the seat belt improperly by placing the shoulder belt behind his or her back so that it does not interfere with his or her face. This defeats the purpose of a shoulder belt because the child's upper body and head may be thrown forward in an accident. Even average size or larger adults sometimes find the positioning of shoulder belts or the constant contact of shoulder belts with their chest and shoulder, to be uncomfortable and annoying. As a result, many people of all sizes may neglect to use a seat belt, reroute the shoulder belt behind their body, or otherwise obstruct or entirely defeat the safety objectives of the seat belt. Moreover, a shoulder belt routed across a vehicle occupant's neck can be dangerous in the event of a collision or sudden stop. 
Some devices have previously been proposed in an attempt to reroute a shoulder belt away from a vehicle occupant's face and/or neck, but such devices present several disadvantages. Some of these devices are not adjustable by the occupant and do not adequately secure the shoulder belt in a desired position. Once installed, many of these devices cannot be easily removed from the shoulder belt and/or from another attachment point, such as a side panel of the vehicle, and thus cannot be easily used with different vehicles. Other devices include parts that wear out and are not replaceable.
One such device includes a seat belt adjustment band that can be placed around both a lap belt portion and shoulder belt portion in order to adjust the position of the shoulder belt portion with respect to the user. Although this adjustment band is capable of repositioning the location of the shoulder belt portion, the rerouted position is often only temporary because the adjustment band easily becomes displaced from its originally set position, allowing the shoulder belt to return to its former, uncomfortable position.
Another approach to rerouting a shoulder belt includes an additional belt mounted near the seat and a deflection member, which is adjustably mounted on the additional belt. The shoulder belt may be adjusted by the deflection member so as to cross the occupant's chest in a more desired position. Such an approach disadvantageously requires two additional pieces of equipment to be installed. Another approach to rerouting the point at which a shoulder belt crosses over a vehicle occupant's torso is mounting a D-ring to the interior side of vehicle body near the occupant's shoulder level. Such vehicle modifications are expensive and cumbersome and are not removable for storage when not in use.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved means for rerouting a seat belt. There is a need to provide a system for rerouting the shoulder belt portion of a seat belt away form an  vehicle occupant's face and/or neck over the occupant's chest and shoulder that is fully adjustable for different size occupants.
There is a need to provide an adjustable device which is adaptable for use with a conventional three-point seat belt for rerouting the position of a shoulder belt so that it does not interfere with a child's face and/or neck, and which encourages a child to use his or her seat belt properly so that the full safety benefits of a Type II vehicle restraint can be realized.
There is a need to provide a shoulder belt adjustment device that maintains its position once it is adjusted to a desired lateral location in a three-point seat belt system.
There is also a need to provide a seat belt rerouter system that is simple to install and use and that is removable from the seat belt such that the entire assembly can be stored in a non-visible location when not in use.